Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Words from Sister Elese Hauser in Chicago

Dear everyone-Well from the sounds
of it, out west has had a pretty dry winter andout here has had a record
breaking winter. I found out that ourcumulative snow fall for this winter is
about 60 inches so far!! Iwould be more than happy to send some of our snow.
If it's notfreezing cold, it's snowing. But such is the life of an
Illinoismissionary. This week we went to to eat out and we saw these
smallmountains in the parking lot of Walmart. It took us a while to
realizethat they weren't really mountains at all but big giant piles of
snow.In the picture I am sending with this email that is a car compared
tothese massive snow piles!! Who ever said there wasn't mountains
inIllinois has never seen these snow piles in the parking lot
ofWalmart!Well this week was extremely slow and easy going compared to
lastweek. I don't know how anything can top last week though. Leena
hadher temple recommend interview yesterday and will be going to
thetemple this weekend! She looks so different, she looks happy. She
eventold us that since her baptism she feels so happy and has seen so
manymiracles in her life. Her husband has been much nicer to her and
shecan feel the Holy Ghost all the time. Such an awesome miracles! It
wasworth every pitcher full of water. And since Leena was pretty much
allour teaching pool consisted of, we are really relying on the
memberssince it's impossible to find anyone outside to talk to and we
can'tgo tracting if it's below 0 so that's pretty much all the time.
Butthe Elders were teaching one lady named Carrol. Now Carrol is
thegrouchiest 70 year old women you've ever met. Her son is a member
andthat's how she knows the church. But before we got here she told
theelders to never come over again. But we have met with her twice
andshe agreed to let us come over and read the Book of Mormon with
her.So we went over this week and the lesson did not go well at
all.Carrol was all over the place, she couldn't focus, her dog
startedlicking my face (ew!!!), but she had read some of the Book of
Mormonby herself. So we left this lesson really frustrated because we
reallyfelt like Carrol could be baptized this month but with lessons
likethat it's not going to happen. And so we had fasted for this lesson
soto break our fast we went and got ice cream. Because ice cream
makeseverything better right?! Absolutely! So were sitting in the
drivethru and we get a call from Carrol. After we had left she went
outsideto smoke her cigarette. She smoked half of it, and then realized
thatshe needed to change, so she put it out!! We were so thrilled
becausesmoking is the major thing holding her back and this was a big
dealfor her! And she told us that she's ready to change and promised
thatshe'd be at church yesterday but she wasn't there. We'll have to
gosmack some sense into her! But this just showed me that as we
exerciseour faith, and fast and pray, The Lord will bless us. It may not be
inthe way or the time we expected but he will help us.Yesterday was our
Ward conference and it went so well! I love how thefocus of most meetings is
missionary work. Doesn't that tell us howimportant it is? We have been
coming up with this awesome lesson toteach the members that helps them think
of names, deadlines, and toform a family mission plan. Hint: you should all
do this for FHE!First, kneel in prayer as a family and ask Heavenly Father
who of yourfriends, neighbors, or acquaintances are that are ready for
thegospel. Think of some specific names and write them down. And
thenmake a deadline for each different goal. If your goal is to
invitesomebody to a mutual activity then set a deadline that by
nextWednesday you'll have invited this person. Or if your goal is
toinvite your kids soccer coach over to your house for dinner with
themissionaries then set it for a month away. The reason we have to
setgoals is not to scare us into doing it, but to motivate us and to
makeus desperate. In Clayton Christensen's book he talks about how
TheLord can trust us when we show him that we are desperate to share
thegospel at any opportunity. And then DO IT!!! Don't be
afraid,missionary work is supposed to be uncomfortable. Members tell us
allthe time that they just don't feel comfortable sharing the gospel.
Youknow what Sister Dias and I say? Good!!! It's a sacrifice to share
thegospel and it's not easy, but the reward and the feeling you have
iswell worth it. You think we as missionaries are always comfortable?
Ofcourse not! Do you think Alma and Amulek were ever comfortable as
theywere being stoned and spit upon? I don't think so. So get over
yourfears, pray for courage, and go invite someone to meet with
themissionaries. I can promise you from the bottom of my heart that
youwill feel such joy you didn't even know existed. And having
themissionaries teach the discussion in your home brings the spirit
morethan anything else. And if you get rejected, keep trying! The Lord
hasa plan so never give up. And most importantly, act out of love. If
youremember those things you will be successful! Alright, well sorry
Iranted there but it's my favorite thing to talk about! So that's allfor
my week! I love you all so very much!Love always,Sister Hauser